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Comment: Yes. This is about establishing a baseline. (Score 2) 319

by robbak (#43919363) Attached to: Japan's Radiation Disaster Toll: None Dead, None Sick

Testing for cancers in a population at this time is all about establishing exactly what cancers existed before the problem. so you can accurately determine what effect the plant's failure will cause.

As the numbers seem slightly high, I suspect regression toward the mean will cause a drop in the number. That will cause confusion in the masses!

Comment: Re:can someone explain this (Score 4, Interesting) 266

by robbak (#43901447) Attached to: Own the Controversy! Blackbird DDWFTTW Up For Auction!

The story is quite simple. The propeller pushes against the air, its positive effect is affected by the difference in speed between the craft and the air. The propeller is driven by the wheels, so its negative effect on the craft is due the the difference in speed between the craft and the ground.

If you have a wind, the craft-to-ground speed is different from the craft-to-air speed. The vehicle can extract energy from this difference - like any sailboat, really - and pull ahead of the wind.

1. Force equations? The force backwards on the wheels is proportional to the groundspeed, the force forwards on the propeller is proportional to the airspeed. If groundspeed exceeds airspeed, as it does travelling downwind, there is an unbalanced force. If losses could be eliminated, the craft could travel at infinite speed (until relativism takes effect!)
2. If you give it a shove, without wind, airspeed == groundspeed, so there is no unbalanced force. Losses are all there is, so it slows down.

Comment: It would use the energy from the treadmill. (Score 0) 266

by robbak (#43901191) Attached to: Own the Controversy! Blackbird DDWFTTW Up For Auction!

A treadmill is motion is no different to a still surface being affected by a wind. The ground is moving relative to the air, and vice versa. The movement of the treadmill would drive the wheels, the wheels would drive the propeller, and it would move forward relative to the air.

Comment: This is more difficult than it seems. (Score 3, Insightful) 189

by robbak (#43386769) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: How Can a Blind Singer 'See' the Choirmaster's Baton?
Although the choir starts singing on the large downward movement of the baton, that is not the cue the choir is using - if the started singing after seeing the downward movement, they would always be late. They are actually taking their cue from the very subtle upward movement just before the downward sweep. Even detecting this would be difficult. The size of this movement, and the delay between this movement and the drop, whether a movement is the of the 'get ready' upward sweep... all very difficult and confusing things. And the nature of the movements will change depending on conductor, the nature of the music, or even the conductors mood. The human brain sorts all of these things out just fine. The best idea is one I read from another poster here - have the neighbour of blind singer give them their cue.

Comment: Re:Can smeone explain ? (Score 1) 288

by robbak (#43335727) Attached to: Indian Supreme Court Denies Novartis Cancer Drug Patent

In this case, a patent would have been reasonable.

Actually it would not have been reasonable, as the existing drug was public knowledge at the time drugs became patentable. As such, it counted as "prior art".

My reason for stating that a patent would be 'reasonable' is that they would have been given a patent if the current laws stood when the drug was developed. Perhaps "not unreasonable" would be the correct term.

Your drug and process example also hints at a failure in the patent process:

35 U.S.C. 112 says

Specification. The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.

Link: http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/mpep-9015-appx-l.html#d0e302450 So if an essential process or precursor for making the drug was held back in the original patent application, the original patent should not have been granted.

Oh, hear here. But that law has not been followed for years. The art of writing a patent these days is the art of making the wording so complex that it provides the reader with no benefits, and so ambiguous that you can extend it to cover things others invent later. "Full, clear, concise and exact". Yeah. That's why we need 'claim construction' arguments to work out what a patent means.

Comment: Re:Can smeone explain ? (Score 2) 288

by robbak (#43335121) Attached to: Indian Supreme Court Denies Novartis Cancer Drug Patent

In this case, the original patent could not be granted because India's laws did not recognize patents on drugs at the time. Now India has passed laws recognizing patentable drugs, the company wanted a patent, and claimed one for the existing drug, unpatented because of previous laws, slightly changed.

In this case, a patent would have been reasonable. But if allowed, it would be a precedent that would have been used for evergreening other drug patents in the future. So it was quite rightly disallowed.

There are more egregious examples of evergreening, for instance, where a party gains a patent on a drug, and, just before the drug's patent expires, a second patent is applied for covering an essential process or precursor for making the drug. This second patent works if they have been careful to make sure that information about the process or precursor has been kept as a trade secret, which means simply that everyone that has been informed about it has signed an NDA.

Comment: Mining continues even when the subsidy ends. (Score 1) 398

by robbak (#43289659) Attached to: Re: Bitcoin, I most strongly agree with the following:

Mining won't stop when the subsidy stops, although we might think of something else to call it. The reward for 'mining' will then be only the fees that are included with transactions.

The subsidy is only part of the block creation process. It so happens that the network allows the host that creates a new block to award itself free coins, as well as collecting any fees. When the network no longer allows this, the blocks can still be created, and they will still collect the fees.

You need tender loving care once a week - so that I can slap you into shape. - Ellyn Mustard

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